Class L electrical power connectors are well known in the art and are standard heavy duty power connectors that have been in use for at least 50 years. These types of connectors are designed to Military Specification MIL-DTL-22992 to be suitable for heavy duty use in industrial and military applications. Typically, Class L connectors are configured with different shell sizes ranging from 28 to 52 and they are configured to operate with conductor sizes that range from size 6 to 4/0 AWG and are used to operate with electrical currents ranging from 40 to 200 amperes. Because these connectors are for heavy duty uses and large power applications, it is important, from a safety and operational perspective, that the connector has a reliable and suitably strong strain relief and that the shell maintains continuity to the ground pin(s) (this is also a requirement of the MIL-SPEC). In current Class L connectors this reliable strain relief is accomplished by using a wire mesh Kellems grip (See FIG. 1A). As shown in FIG. 1B, the Kellems grip is typically constructed from a stainless steel mesh that is attached a connector via an aluminum collar and aluminum compression nut, where the stainless steel mesh extends down a portion of the cable connected to the connector. This wire mesh acts as a strain relief for the electrical connector and cable and is attached to the connector as described in U.S. Patent Registration No. 5,015,805.
Unfortunately however, the Kellems grip used with current Class L connectors (as well as other connectors) has an undesirable characteristic in that, because these connectors are used in heavy duty applications that are typically outdoors, the Kellems grip is exposed to the environment. This exposure causes the Kellems grip to fray overtime causing individual wires of the wire mesh to stick out of the grip. Thus, when a user grabs the wire mesh portion of the grip, the frayed wires tend to pierce and cut the hand of the user. Moreover, as the grips become more worn, the strain relief functionality becomes degraded.